Starsiege

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Starsiege shows what the next gen mech sims are capable of ... and things are looking pretty good.

By IGN Staff

With the release of Starsiege, Dynamix has a lot to prove. Two other mechanized robot fighting games, Heavy Gear II and MechWarrior III, are slated for release within the next few months so, as the first of the next generation of mech-based games, Dynamix has a chance to really make its mark by getting off to an early start. Well, as the first one out the door, Starsiege certainly doesn't disappoint, but it's not perfect by any means.

In Starsiege, you'll assume the role of either a squad commander in the Martian rebellion or as a unit leader in the Cybrid military, a race of evil organic machines. Each race has their own set of missions and, while the single player game is rather short with some missions taking less than five minutes to complete, it's neat to see the game unfold from two different perspectives. Unlike most giant mechanized robot games, the control system in Starsiege is surprisingly easy to learn and you'll be up and running with your first Herc in no time. The developers at Dynamix have done a great job of taking what could have been a confusing control system and turning it into something simple and intuitive. I found that the best way to control the Herc was using the keyboard for movement and squad commands while using the mouse to control aim, firing and targeting. Instead of relying on your torso to turn and target your enemies, in Starsiege it's your weapons that rotate. This means that your Herc is always facing forward, making combat less hectic and confusing than in other mech-based games. However, as good as the control system is, you don't really get the sense that you're piloting a lumbering fifty ton Herc. The game just plays too fast to give you the sense of controlling a huge mechanized robot. This game definitely focuses on the action aspect of robotic combat, but it does a good job at it none the less. This isn't necessarily bad, it's just different from what you would expect from a juggernaut.

After the first few training missions you'll have a squad of up to four Hercs at your command and, while the squad options are rather limited (you can only issue simple commands like fire at my target, form on me, or stop), you'll soon learn that you can do a lot of damage with just a small group of Hercs under your tutelage. There are a few AI problems such as your squad mates running into your line of fire or, even worse, running into your Herc, but these quirks don't detract from the gameplay much and only serve as minor annoyances when you're in the heat of battle as you'll invariably be doing to most damage and taking out the most enemy Hercs anyway.

There are approximately thirty different battle Hercs and tanks that you can pilot in the game. And, as if this weren't enough variety, you can also choose to outfit your Herc with over forty different weapons and a slew of other vehicle enhancements such as cloaking devices, shield amplifiers and turbine boosters. Most of the weapons are pretty much standard fare for computer mech games, ranging from machine guns to beam weapons, rockets to mines, but there are a number of specialized weapons that become extremely useful in specific situations, such as the energy-sapping Disrupter and the flesh burning Radiation Gun which kills enemy pilots while leaving their Herc intact. Extremely cruel to say the least, but extremely useful for gaining new technologies.

Graphically, Starsiege has gone far beyond any of the Earthsiege titles and it would be hard to even classify this in the same division as the previous games in the series. Everything has been totally revamped, and Starsiege uses the same beautiful and efficient graphics engine that Tribes does, with impressive if somewhat sparse terrain features. The art team really paid special attention to the little details as your Hercs kick up clouds of dust as they move around the field and leave footprints in the soft sand as they travel from waypoint to waypoint. New effects like the game's cloaking mode, real-time shadows and explosions chunky enough to eat with a fork are also visually impressive. But while the terrain and effects look good, the design of the humanoid Hercs themselves are a bit bland, blocky and uninspired. The organic look of the Cybrid Hercs shows that the art team really had some unique design ideas, but they must have been all used up by the time development on the human Hercs began.

While Starsiege comes across as a great game in terms of playability and visuals, the aural side of Starsieges leaves a lot to be desired. The most lacking area of Starsiege is in the sound effects department. Being at the helm of a megaton Herc, I was hoping for a little more thump through my subwoofer when I had the bass pumped up, but Starsiege never really seemed to fool my ears enough to make me believe that I was at the controls of a multi-story behemoth raining deadly plasma on my foes. Instead of thunderous BOOMS, my footsteps sound like little baby steps. Should I ask "mother may I" before I take out that rival Cybrid? On the other hand, Starsiege did achieve something that is rare in a computer game: the voice-overs are actually well acted and it's obvious that Dynamix spent some money hiring trained voice talent and didn't just pick a few people form around the office to do fake British accents. You may even recognize computer game veteran Mark Hamill (didn't he used to have another job way back when?) as the voice of rebel leader (yeah, that was it ... it had something to do with a rebellion) Harabec Weathers. Unfortunately, the voice-overs were somewhat muddled and crackly and were often drowned out by the annoying background music. You'd think they would have developed static-free communication by the 29th century, but no such luck.

It's an area that is often overlooked in most reviews, but I feel the need to report on the Starsiege box contents. In a time when the printed manual has either become obsolete or turned into a four page CD case insert, it's refreshing to see a title that's packed as tight with information as Starsiege. Not only does the game include a thick and detailed manual, but there's also an equally as dense historical compendium that will get you up to speed on the Starsiege/Earthsiege universe and all of the vehicles in the game.

The free multiplay engine in Starsiege is similar to Tribes and users can connect to a database of currently running Starsiege games at the click of a mouse button. There are five different modes of play. Capture the Flag should be familiar to most Tribes fans ¿ you attempt to grab the enemy's flag and drag it back to your location while protecting your own flag. Deathmatch is another no-brainer ¿ grab the biggest Herc that's allowed and set to blowing the bejeezus out of anyone dumb enough to get within your range. Team Deathmatch adds a little flavor to the senseless killing and gives you some buddies to try and form strategies with, but the basic action is still the same as Deathmatch. Football is a quirky new mode that requires players to advance on an opponent team in a fairly orderly fashion. Finally there's War, a mode that encourages players to destroy not only each other, but also bases, shield generators and the like. And And, while I didn't get into it as much as I did Tribes, multiplayer mode is where you'll probably get the most play out of this title. Now this is not to say that the single player game is boring. On the contrary. I found the single player mode to be extraordinarily fun and engaging, but the mulitplayer action will keep you coming back for months, maybe even years, to come.

Starsiege is a pretty damn good game and it's certainly hella fun, but things could be better. It will be a few months before we can see how Starsiege rates against the other mech games, but for now Dynamix has proven that they can offer a genuinely fun robotic combat experience, both as a single player game as well as in the muliplayer arena.

9PresentationA fantastic package overall. The well-written manual is thick and detailed without bogging you down with useless information, and the cutscenes are some of the best I've seen in a long time.

7GraphicsThe Martian landscapes look great but are rather sparse and the humanoid Hercs are a bit bland and generic looking. The edition of an in-game skin importation tool is a nice touch, though.

6.5SoundThe sound effects are minimal and, while it's obvious that Dynamix spent some time recruiting top of the line voice talent, the in-game voiceovers are somewhat muddled and overpowered.

8GameplayWith a simple control system, you'll be piloting your 50 ton Herc in no time.

8Lasting AppealThe single player game is a bit short, but the free multiplayer mode will keep you coming back for more.